TNT2 Ultra overclocking question

[saimike]

hi guys,

i have a creative tnt2 ultra from a while ago, and was wondering how overclockable it is, if at all. what software should i use to accomplish this? thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments!

 

[Lorne]

Use Vmax or the Hardware option settings in the drivers you have or if not the Nvidia det drivers you are using or can use, These are only suggestions.

I have a Asus 3800D TnT2 Ultra and tried to up its performance but was realy limited on the frequency srped I could do so I left it default.
Stock is Core 150 and ram 183 and best I could do was 160/190 just holding stable but the gain wasnt worth it, in 3DmarkSE I get 2000 stock and the OC gain was only 10-20 pts, Not worth the trouble.

You may want to test different video drivers first and find what works best for you before OC'ing the card, I found all the newer drivers drasticly killed performance for me and have had to stay with the Det 6.50, Even DirectX makes a noticable difference, DX7 works better for me then DX8.x but to be able to make some games or programs work sometimes you have to stay with the times.

I see you are running less then 800mhz, you will get better performances by upping the FSB then OC'ing the gfx, You are not even pushing the cards potental yet, I had my Asus in a K6-2 550 and tried to OC the card with no gain what so ever, I couldnt tell why I couldnt get any more from my system, I tried OC the CPU up to 600, No gain at all in 3Dmark, Hmm, Tried the FSB OC and there was a nice gain going from 400pts to 480pts, wow! ( Thats alot of gain for a K6) I changed my ram to CAS2,WOW! 580pts, gain of 100.
I asked a friend to test it in his P3-800, The gain was sadly marginal of an extra 100 pts, I thought this card blows but after I got My 1.4 T-bird the Score shot up to 1900pts and with the last revision of Firmware to it it Holds just at 2000, I can get it to push 2050pts by upping the FSB but again not worth the troubles.
TnT2 are very CPU intensive since there software driven and Very FSB hungry, You may want to look into a lowcost Gforce but dont go too cheap on a Noname brand or you end up in the same boat, The built in GPU (Hardware driven) would really help that Celly work better.

Goodluck

 

[Brian48]

Depends on which revision of the Creative you have. The earlier ones have really good memory modules that exceeded the spec's outline by nVidia (Elite EMT 5.5ns). These have been known to overclock as high as 250mhz for the memory. Later versions used the slower 6ns/6.5ns modules.

The core limit will generally vary, but with sufficient cooling, it should run at 175mhz just fine. 175mhz core was the original spec for the TNT2u, but later scaled back because the yields were not consistent enough. Hercules (the real Hercules, not Guillemot) was the only manufacturer to clock their cards at 175/200.

I have one of the earlier ones installed on my brother's machine. Using a Tenmax HSF, it can run at 175/225 with no problems. Never bothered to push it higher though.

This is an old article, but it's fairly informative.

 

[saimike]

<< Depends on which revision of the Creative you have. The earlier ones have really good memory modules that exceeded the spec's outline by nVidia (Elite EMT 5.5ns). These have been known to overclock as high as 250mhz for the memory. Later versions used the slower 6ns/6.5ns modules.

The core limit will generally vary, but with sufficient cooling, it should run at 175mhz just fine. 175mhz core was the original spec for the TNT2u, but later scaled back because the yields were not consistent enough. Hercules (the real Hercules, not Guillemot) was the only manufacturer to clock their cards at 175/200.

I have one of the earlier ones installed on my brother's machine. Using a Tenmax HSF, it can run at 175/225 with no problems. Never bothered to push it higher though.

This is an old article, but it's fairly informative. >>



thanks for the link! i'll be trying it soon.

i bought my tnt2u just b4 the fall99 school term, so i think it was still fairly new. when did creative start using the slower mem?

also, how does this card handle agp > 66mhz? thanks!

 

[mricks86]

Hi guys, I have an unrelated question I was hoping one of you could help me with!

I am trying to tweak my tnt2 (Leadtek S320 II AGP w/ 32mb ram) and I have made the "Coolbits" modification to the registry so I can adjust the clock frequencies of the card, but under "Additional Properties" in my video card settings I don't have the tabs for all the other adjustments, like d3d settings, openGL settings, hardware options, etc.

Does anyone know how to enable these? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am running win2k.

Thanks in advance!